Justification

Citizenship in any kingdom demands certain things, and in the kingdom
of God, citizenship demands righteousness. We cannot attain this
righteousness on our own, for it must be imputed to us by the great King of
this kingdom. Those who ...Read More

Martin Luther’s commentary on today’s passage includes this nugget of wisdom: “God is honored in His Son. Whoever then believes that the Son is our mediator and Savior, he honors the Father, and him again does God honor ...Read More

Because we are sinners, we can do nothing in and of ourselves to merit eternal life. Even after we are saved, our best works remain tainted by sin and cannot produce the perfection we need for a righteous standing before ...Read More

If justification were a meritorious reward that we earn because we have faith, we would have no assurance of peace with God. After all, our faith is not always strong, and until our glorification it is mixed with sin. No ...Read More

If you are a believer, you have been justified. That means God has determined that He will not
regard you as a guilty sinner but as His spotless, perfect child. In this simple process are
displayed all the wonders of ...Read More

A dead faith is really no faith at all because a dead faith can in no way lay hold of the perfect righteousness of Christ. We must have a living faith evidenced by works of love and mercy toward other ...Read More

Jerome, one of the most important biblical scholars of the ancient church, comments on today’s passage that we are to “live our lives in the same way now as we are going to live in the day, that is ...Read More

We will discuss what it means to not be under law in the days ahead. Today, Dr. R.C. Sproul’s commentary Romans will help us understand Paul’s point: “We are no longer under the law in the sense ...Read More

Today we must likewise be wary of misplaced confidence. We do not rest in God’s salvation because we signed a card of commitment to Christ or have a memory of going forward to receive Christ at an “altar call ...Read More

Matthew Henry comments on today’s passage: “We are conquerors by virtue of Christ’s victory. We have nothing to do but pursue the victory, and to divide the spoil, and so are more than conquerors.” Because we are in ...Read More

As we strive to obey God and walk in the Spirit, we will find ourselves falling short. It is at those points that we must remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our sins ...Read More

As if our justification were not enough, Paul also points to the objective reality of Christ’s intercession for us. In conjunction with the Holy Spirit, Jesus intercedes with us, and He has a “preoccupation with the security of his ...Read More

In his commentary on Romans, Douglas J. Moo writes, “God’s wrath is the inevitable and necessary reaction of absolute holiness to sin.” The Lord must judge sinners, and we cannot endure this judgment, but Christ bears it in our ...Read More

We’ll consider the nature of justification and faith in more detail over the next few days. Today we note the significance of the opposition of doing and believing with regard to justification. Faith is something we exercise, but Paul ...Read More

We see people doing good things every day — loving their children, caring for
elderly parents, giving money to cancer research, and so on. Nevertheless, even
the best deeds of sinners are insufficient in God’s sight. Even if unregenerate people ...Read More